Single Frame: A Hit or a Miss and Sometimes Both

I am ALL about electronica/experimental rock, but Single Frame left me feeling a little unsure of my appreciation for it. Hailing from Austin, Texas, members Adreon, Ian, and Jason pump out some great beats but lack pizzazz vocally and lyrically. My listening session left me feeling confused because I wanted to call them genius but messy at the same time.

"The Slip" achieves electronica greatness in a matter of seconds during the intro. That killer intro nearly convinced me I was listening to my new favorite band. Then the vocals tainted the song's purity with brash, rough, unpolished verses and choruses that tried much too hard to be catchy. I wanted to say the instrumental parts were enough to save the song, but the vocals made it almost annoying to listen to. I wanted the instruments to play on and the vocals to back down.

Then "Exact Copy of This in the Basement" happened. I could not find fault with almost anything in it. The vocals are rather low for most of the song, and I would complain about the lack of clarity, but they are too sexy to pick on. Half the time I did not even know what was being sung. I just knew I liked how seductive it sounded. The beats in this song are almost too smooth to even put into words. Some electronic mechanism establishes a great cadence from the get-go, and I could not get enough of it. I imagined this song blaring out of some horrible sound system in an underground night club, hypnotizing ears with its robotic catchiness. If I would suggest a song for you to listen to right this minute, this would be that song.

"Digital Witness" ruined the high I was on from "Exact Copy of This in the Basement." The vocals were once again the culprit. The guitar and synthesizer were pretty stellar, but lost their shine when the vocals covered them up with a screechy chorus. After this song, I just felt frustrated with the band because it seemed like they came so close to being grade A and then threw it away on ragged vocals.

I could take them or leave them. Single Frame is not a band I plan on just forgetting about, but their music is certainly not keeping me up at night.

Listen to Single Frame here!

Thank you for reading. Shuffle on.

Photo credit: http://www.purevolume.com/singleframe/photos/1045425